Surrey continues to be short-changed on roads (22nd January)

SCC’s Executive Member for Transport, David Munro, has criticised the government for not recognising the pressures faced by Surrey as regards highways maintenance.

A report to last Tuesday’s Executive meeting stated that the amount of money provided to Surrey by the government in 2008/09 would be going up by only 2% when at the same time inflation in the construction sector is at a considerably higher rate.

Mr. Munro said that he was sadly not surprised: “yet again we see that Surrey is being short-changed, and that whereas funding per head in Surrey is £154 per year it is £719 in Manchester. The disparity between these two figures just serves to illustrate that the government simply doesn’t understand the pressures that Surrey’s highways are under.

70% more vehicles per day use our ‘A’ roads than the national average, and we have 80% higher traffic flows on motorways - and these vehicles spill onto County roads when the motorways are closed or clogged.

We are responsible for nearly 5,000km of roads in Surrey, and we know that the public want to see improvements. The County Council also wants to see improvements. County Councillors use Surrey’s roads every day of the week and we know that despite the hard work of our officers and prudent management of our finances there is still work to be done.

That work, however, is being hampered by a government that continually fails to recognise the contribution that Surrey makes to the national economy”.